The Lodge at Port Arrowhead — Hotel in Lake Ozark

My experience at this hotel was not great. Room-wise, I'd never stay here again but I've been in worse. I gave it two stars because the food made my mom sick, would have given it three stars otherwise. I am sure she'd give it one star because she feels so bad.

The short story: DO NOT eat the food, bring your own water if cloudy softened water bothers you, and don't expect anything fancy or any compensations for a mistake on their part. My room was clean but did not smell good and because some buildings bordering the outdoor pool are smoking the whole pool area was smoky, which I'm sure is worse in summer.

The long story:

The room itself appears clean, although it has definitely seen better days. It's clean enough that I feel safe walking barefoot in my room and I'm okay with the fact that I forgot my own pillowcase. However, the room distinctly smells like poolwater and the bathroom has a vague pee odor. (the cleanliness may also vary by room. Several people complained about cleanliness and were moved and that seems to be a common thread in other reviews)

The water in my room is softened to the point of being cloudy, so I would recommend bringing your own water to drink.

I would NOT recommend eating the hotel food. I came to the conference with my mother and we ate dinner, then breakfast and lunch the next day. She spent the evening ill and the food was decidedly sub-par-- poorly cooked, tasted like cafeteria food. My glass the first night had huge lipstick stains on it and there were several dirty plates at each meal, so the dishes aren't properly scrubbed and/or the dishwasher isn't handling the amount of food waste they expect it to. Just don't bother, there's plenty of good restaurants and two grocery stores nearby.

I am staying here for a conference, so I did not have a choice in accommodations. We requested a lakeside room and didn't recieve it, and we were told after inquiring that there was a note in our file telling whoever put our reservation to notify us that the conference rate wasn't good for those rooms. We were not told this until we complained, and were offered an upgrade for normal price. Very polite service, but generally when someone fails to pass on a message like that I expect something more than an apology. The conference director did mention she was having some issues because "the sales staff changed" so that may be the source of that issue.

Overall, I would have given it three stars because the room I stayed in was run-down but not gross. However, we had to spend the whole evening in because the food...

Upon arrival, check in was relatively fine. There was a problem with verifying my details, but ultimately it went through without issues. (Glitch in the system) However, this was not the beginning of the problems. While I went up the stairs to my assigned room, I noted that the concrete staircase was uneven and shaking as I walked on it. This was concerning, as I was attending a Missouri Rehabilitation Association conference, which would clearly need accessible rooms.

I noted upon entry of the room various issues. First, the chair located in the room was placed in a position that did not make any sense. It was blocking the drawer next to the bed, I could not sit in it if I wanted to because of the space, and overall it did not seem to 'fit in' with the rest of the room. Next, I checked the bathroom. The bathroom wall vent was caked in dust, the shower railing displayed signs of great wear and lack of maintenance. Next, I checked the room for signs of dirt. I reviewed the provided blankets on the bed, both sides covered with a dirt-like appearance, along with the corners of the room covered in random dirt/dust particles. (See attached photos of the room)

When I went to the front desk to ask about extra blankets, the staff was rude and determined that I was only allotted one blanket. (I had to accept the blanket, as I deemed it unsafe to sleep with the given covers) The blanket given to me was mostly fine, however, I brought my own blankets to supplement the hotels' supply, just in case. (A wise decision) I also asked for a wash cloth, to clean the dust off the vents, but they were again antagonistic per this request, and claimed that they did not have any means to provide me 'rags' and that they only had 'fine towels'. They ultimately gave me a small towel to deal with the issue. At no time was proper cleaning of the room offered.

Despite the unpleasant interaction with the hotel, Encore staff was pleasant and helpful. I enjoyed my time at Encore, as the conference largely took place there, but the lodgings were most unsatisfying.

I would not recommend this location for any traveler, be it one day or multiple weeks. The 'motel setup' of the rooms was also jarring, as this was advertised as a 'resort'.

Please review other local options before booking your stay. I trust you will be more pleased with any alternative, rather than this mockery of...

We were here for a marriage retreat with approximately 350 people. We arrived on a Thursday. The front desk personnel were nothing but kind and helpful, but that's where the "good" stopped. As we settled into our room and attempted to freshen up, the water from the sink shot out at high speed, soaking my wife. When it was brought to the attention of staff, they said they forgot to tell us the water for our building had been shut off and that there was air in the pipes. The hot water in our entire building (main building) was not working properly and did not turn hot until Sunday morning (3 days without hot water). Even then, it was intermittent because it needed 2 full days to warm up. The staff tried to be accommodating and gave us a key two days in a row for another room in another building so we could have a hot shower. Since we were with a large group, we had also reserved the Event Center and the large banquet hall under the Encore. The Event Center had no heat, and it was 57 degrees when we had our first meeting. The next day to remedy the heat, they brought in an industrial kerosene heater and ran it for about two hours, causing several of our members to get massive headaches. Our room was never serviced, and we didn't even have a sign to hang on the door to request/decline housekeeping. At approximately 8:45 am, the housekeeping personnel walked to the end of our hallway, opened an outside door, yelled, "Incoming!" as they dropped a load of laundry off the balcony. We had a large catered banquet on Saturday night that was catered by the Encore restaurant. About half of our group received raw chicken, and they ran out of several other items before the second half went through the line. The Encore restaurant was nice, and I heard their dinner in the restaurant was great. The indoor pool was nice, as well. There is a very small workout center that includes 3 treadmills and one cable set. The rooms, while recently renovated, left a lot to be desired. They looked like the contractor wanted to do the job as fast as they could. At the end of the day, I would definitely choose a different...